ASHLAND, Ohio - The Truman State University volleyball team fell to Pitt-Johnstown in four sets to open play on Saturday before it swept Urbana to earn its first victory of the 2017 campaign. The Mountain Cats improved to 3-0 while the Bulldogs sit at 1-3 and dropped the Blue Knights to 0-4.

Pitt-Johnstown 3, Truman 1

Early in the first set against Pitt-Johnstown, Truman scored first and maintained its lead despite six ties in the first 18 points scored. When the score was 9-9, the two teams continued to go back and forth before the Mountain Cats rattled off four points to go ahead by three, 16-13, and the Bulldogs called a timeout. However, the breather didn't give the Purple and White the push they needed as Pitt-Johnstown ended the set on a 9-4 run and won it by eight, 25-17.

In the second set, the Bulldogs trailed just once at 2-1, but it was complete control for the Purple and White other than that. Truman led by as many as seven on two different occasions including 14-7 and 20-13. Despite a late push from the Mountain Cats that cut the deficit to two, 24-22, the Bulldogs were able to hold on for the set win, 25-22.

The third set was the tightest one of the match as it saw a combined 14 ties and five lead changes and both teams were eager to take that 2-1 match advantage. Only twice did either of the two squads lead by more than two points as Pitt-Johnstown was ahead 7-4 early on and 23-20 late in the action. That 43rd point for the Mountain Cats came in the midst of a run in which they tallied the final four points to win the set by five, 25-20.

For the fourth set, Truman controlled the action early with a lead as big as five at both 6-1 and 7-2. The Bulldogs even pushed their advantage to six, 13-7, thanks to a 4-0 run that forced Pitt-Johnstown to use a timeout. From there, the Mountain Cats scratched and clawed to get the score back even at 19-19 and Truman's final lead came when it was 20-19. However, Pitt-Johnstown ended the set on a 6-0 run to take it, 25-20, and the match in four.

Against the Mountain Cats, the Bulldogs were led by Jocelynn Livingston (12 kills), Jasmine Brown (10 kills), Savvy Hughes (33 assists), Lauren Wacker (21 digs), and Natalie Brimeyer (five blocks). For Livingston, that marked the second time in as many matches that she was able to reach the 10-kill plateau while Brown has done so in three of the team's four matches.

Truman 3, Urbana 0

Hungry for their first win, the Bulldogs turned in their best effort of the young season against Urbana. In the first set, Truman never trailed and it was never tied as the Purple and White had a lead as big as seven on three different occasions including 13-6, 24-17 and 25-18. In that set, the Bulldogs were able to hit .229 with 11 kills and three errors on 35 total attacks, but they were just getting warmed up.

Truman won the second set over Urbana 25-5. Yes, you read that right. The Bulldogs scored the first five points before going ahead 11-2, 16-3 and 24-4. In the process, the Purple and White hit a blistering .318 with nine kills and just two errors on 22 attempts.

On the match, there were a total of seven ties and three lead changes, all of which happened in the third set. Urbana scored first and led the set through the first 18 points scored before Truman broke the 9-9 tie to go up by one. That 19th point came in the midst of a 6-1 run for the Bulldogs. From there, neither of the two squads went ahead by more than two before the Purple and White had themselves a three-point lead, 20-17. Urbana called a timeout to talk things over, but Truman held on for the set victory 25-21, and the match in straight sets.

It was a coming out party for the freshman, Sam Yancy, as she sent home 13 kills to just one error on 23 total attacks for a red-hot hitting percentage of .522. Behind her on the offensive attack, no Bulldog had more than four kills so Yancy was the focal point. Other leaders for Truman included Hughes with 24 assists, Wacker with 22 digs and Brimeyer with six blocks (named to Ashland University Quality Inn All-Tournament Team).

Ashland University Quality Inn All-Tournament Team
Lake Erie - Bethany Fisher
Urbana - Courtney Niesen
Pitt-Johnstown - Noelle Carota, Devan Orr
Truman - Natalie Brimeyer
Ashland - Shelby Woycik (MVP), Kayla Pfeiffer

Next up, the Bulldogs will head to The Sunshine State for the Saint Leo Tournament on Sept. 8-9. Those two days, Truman will face Sioux Falls, Nova Southeastern, West Texas A&M, and Saint Leo.

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